Object of the invention is a control circuit of a functional and therapeutic stimulator which enables proportional regulation of the amplitude of stimulation pulses and thereby the intensity of the artificially provoked muscle contractions in dependence upon the position of the positional pick-up, and an automatic switching in of the electronic circuit of the stimulator with the aid of the control signal.
Known embodiments of control circuits of the kind are either limited in the manner of operation thereof, or they do not possess the technical performances of the novel circuit. The positional pick-up for the control signal is mostly fixed with tapes onto the patient's back so that a hemiplegic patient cannot fix it on his back himself.
The prior art embodiment of the control circuit of a functional and therapeutic stimulator has some drawbacks. A very complicated and expensive positional pick-up with a microswitch was built into the circuit, which caused undesired stimulation pulses at switching off the stimulator. Another drawack lies in the nonlinearity of the characteristics of the amplitude adjustment.
The aim of the invention is to provide a control circuit of a functional and therapeutic stimulator which enables a proportional regulation of stimulation pulses and automatic switching-on of the electronic circuit of the stimulator. The stimulator contains a simple electronic circuit with minimum current consumption, the pick-up of the control signal being physically built into the stimulator. The stimulator can be positioned simply, its casing being an industrial design.
The aim as set forth was attained by an electronic circuit shown in the accompanying drawing, and by a special connection of the positional pick-up.